Lucas Carneiro Stats 110 June 5, 2013

Study Habits

I have never really been consistently "good" student In high school I !as the "id !ho, des#ite not really doing the !or", so$eho! got good grades on tests I attributed that to $y ability to re$e$ber %acts easily and $y #roble$ solving s"ills, !hich at the ti$e I thought !ere a little beyond $y #eers &hen %irst started going to college though that all changed I !as surrounded by "ids !ho !ere 'ust as advanced as I !as, i% not $ore Initially I really struggled !ith the !ay $y study habits had develo#ed I !as not used to s#acing out $y ti$e, creating schedules, or even #lanning to study I tried to get by the %irst cou#le se$esters basically 'ust !inging it, needless to say I %ailed Later on though, as I got $ore ade#t at actually #assing classes I reali(ed that having good study habits is essential to being a success%ul student I learned to $a"e ti$e %or studying, #lan ahead, and really %ocus )t %irst !as undecided on $y $a'or, at that ti$e I %elt li"e I could really $anage the college thing *ut as $y interest in $usic beca$e $ore and $ore o% an obsession, I declared $ysel% as a $usic $a'or +hat decision brought about ne! challenges %or $e that I !asn,t ready to deal !ith

)s a $usic $a'or in college, you,re e-#ected to not only be a success%ull student, !ho ta"es . to 12 units o% classes, but you,re also e-#ected to succeed as a $usician !hich $eans /01L/SS hours o% #ractice 2ost #eo#le thin" that to be a great $usician you $ust be born !ith so$e "ind o% su#ernatural #o!ers o% so$ething &hile it is true that so$e #eo#le are $ore #rone to $usic based on their #ersonality or u#bringing, the %act is that can only give you the desire +he best $usicians are the ones !ho s#end every !a"ing $o$ent !restling !ith $usical conce#ts and ta"ing every chance they get to #ractice their instru$ents 2y $ista"e as a $usic $a'or !as thin"ing I could handle a %ull student load, and a #art3ti$e 'ob !hile at the sa$e ti$e devoting all %ree ti$e, !hich !asn,t $uch to #er%ecting $y techni4ues on $y instru$ent I really didn,t $a"e $any advance$ents $usically those %irst cou#le o% se$esters because I %elt that I al!ays had so$ething else to do be%ore I could rela- and %ocus on $y #laying, so that by the ti$e I actually got do!n to the $usic $a"ing, I !as e-hausted I overca$e that hurdle !hen I decided to #rioriti(e I !anted des#erately to %inish 'unior college %ast and trans%er as soon as #ossible, but I had to reali(e that !ith everything I had on $y #late I !as 'ust overe-tending $ysel% 0either $y $usic or $y acade$ics !ere succeeding I decided to devote a lot less units to 5/ classes and %ocus $ore on $y #laying, !hich %or $e !as !hat !ould get $e into a Cal State I lo!ered $y overall unit load %ro$ u# to 16 do!n to a $anageble . )lthough I !asn,t going through the acade$ic #rogra$ as %ast as I,d li"ed I learned that I needed the e-tra %ree ti$e to %ocus on the things that !ere i$#ortant to $e Li"e $y $usic classes and #rivate lessons, s#ending ti$e

!ith $y girl%riend and %a$ily, and !or"ing the inevitable #art3ti$e 'ob +hat se$ester I %elt that overall all o% $y endeavors !ere beco$ing !ay $ore $anageble I !as doing better at !or", $y guitar teacher !as noticing a lot $ore #rogress in $y #laying, and $y relationshi#s !ith %riends and %a$ily !ere getting easier I,$ no! on $y %outh year o% co$$unity college, and o##osed to !hat I thought %our years ago, I,$ not even asha$ed o% it I have !ay better ti$e $anage$ent s"ills no!, other than the occasional bout o% #rocrastination, I %eel li"e I,ve learned $y li$its and !hat I need to do to succeed I,ve been acce#ted to Cal State 0orthridge as a Classical 5uitar $a'or, !hich really is a drea$ co$e true I guess its one o% the $ain lessons o% college to learn !hat each o% us needs to do to succeed So$e #eo#le !or" %aster, so$e slo!er, so$e o% us don,t ever sto#, and others li"e $ysel% need ti$e to un!ind, #lan and thin" about things be%ore get do!n to business In relation to this class, as any other challenging $ath class, "ee#ing u# !ith ho$e!or" and constantly revisinting conce#ts is really "ey to staying on to# o% it In retros#ect this se$ester has been 4uite challanging %or $e 0onetheless I %eel li"e I,ve gotten a lot out o% it and learned 4uite a bit In the beginning I "ind o% underesti$ated the class and didn,t do $ost o% the ho$e!or" %or the %irst cou#le sections I got o" grades on the %irst coul#le o% 4ui((es, but it !asn,t til the $idter$ that I really got $y butt in gear I,ve $ade sure to not only co$#lete, but also understand each and every #roble$ o% the ho$e!or" +his has been hard %or $e because I !or" slo!ly !hen it co$es to $ath so the ho$e!or" I,$ doing

is usally a section or t!o behind the lecture 0onetheless I,ve $ade sure to turn everything in on ti$e since the $idter$ and it really has hel#ed I,$ gras#ing the conce#ts better and even though I so$eti$es use the ans!er "ey, I $a"e sure to go over every ste# o% the #roble$ in order to understand it I,ve basically thro!n a!ay $y !ee"end to %ocus on studing %or $y $ulti#le %inals ne-t !ee", !hich is so$ething that the high school version o% $ysel% !ould have never done